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I have a new found love for essential oils! To be honest- my purchase was out of necessity and desperation…. I wanted to find a cure for my headaches and I NEEDED my children to get to a place of calm before bed and sleep through the night! Is that too much to ask??!! This “sleeping issue” has been going on for nine exhausting years and I was willing to try anything natural… the doctors were suggesting drugs left and right, and even though that is where we may end up- I knew giving essential oils a try wouldn’t hurt. I researched several companies and shut down the idea multiple times due to the prices….eeek! Then a friend suggested Plant Therapy. I’ve been very happy with the company and the prices. The essential oils have helped my headaches and the “calm”…well… that is still a work in progress, but I DO see some progress! One thing I have been doing regularly and am very happy with is using my essential oils when I make my cleaning supplies. Today, I’m sharing an all-purpose spray I make for the kitchen, and during flu season I am using the “Germ Fighter” synergy which is a combination of the oils: Lemon, Clove, Eucalyptus, Cinnamon, Rosemary, and Thyme ……. it keep the germs away- it really does. I love it!

The recipe couldn’t be easier : 2 cups vinegar, 2 tbsp dish soap, and 6 drops of your favorite essential oil. I have used the Lemon and Orange oils alone in the this recipe and have been very happy with the results. My favorite perk: I feel comfortable with my daughter using this spray and helping me clean the kitchen!

I have a lot to learn about Essential Oils and would love to share it with my Sweets and Whimsy friends as I play and experiment. I have no intention of getting rid of my sweet treat feature, but plan to share more aspects of the Burton family life on this site. What can you expect from Sweets and Whimsy in the coming year? How about an Essential Oil feature, Homeschooling fun, Gardening in the country and growing a farm, We have some big, exciting home projects like a surprise treehouse for the kids and a complete remodel of our basement! Lots of fun things coming up and I’m so glad you have come along for the journey!

I’m so excited to be back to blogging! I have lots of fun things planned for the New Year!

It’s that time of year when we start the process of “un- decorating”. We always cut down a live tree, so our Christmas tree has an early January expiration date. It’s always a sad day for us, not only because we LOVE Christmas, but, I LOVE the smell of a live tree and it’s incredibly hard to duplicate. I decided to use some of my leftover Christmas food ingredients and simmer them together in water. The result was incredible! I started with rosemary and sliced oranges- a perfect combination! On day two of simmering, I added cinnamon sticks for another layer of fantastic aroma! Incredibly simple and easy, but wonderfully comforting and just the seasonal smell I was looking for! Even Mr. Sweets and Whimsy, who says most candle scents make his “throat close up”, was a fan of this pot of “wonderfullness”. I was able to get a nice aroma from this mixture for four days! Putting the raw ingredients into a Mason Jar and adding a tag that says: “add water” would be a perfect gift!

So many scent combinations to consider! Throw in some cranberries or clove studded apples….. play around with extracts and raid your spice pantry. More fun to come Sweets and Whimsy fans!

This is by far my favorite salad! At my favorite Italian restaurant, Girasole, they serve a salad very similar to this one. Girasole is one of those once “every other year” date night restaurants- it’s been awhile, and I have been missing this dish, So…. I tried my hand at this salad and my taste buds and tummy are very happy…The combination of peppery greens, tart pears, rich, tangy gorgonzola, and the sweet walnuts are amazing together. I finally created a vinaigrette that stands up to the strong flavors of this salad! I’m in love!! First, I made the candied walnuts. They take a little while to set up, so I usually make a big batch that will last awhile. They are yummy to snack on and make a fantastic topping to ice cream and pumpkin pie! This sweet component is necessary in my opinion to balance out the flavors, but you can always just toss some crunchy walnuts on your salad and call it a day. Melt the butter Once the butter is melted, add brown sugar, maple syrup, cinnamon, and a pinch of salt. Once mixture has come to a nice bubble (takes about 2 minutes) Add walnuts…. Allow walnuts to swim in the sugary sweet goodness for about 5-6 minutes or until the walnuts are completely covered and mixture starts to carmelize and cling to the walnuts. Place walnuts on a piece of parchment to cool….Warning!to picky fingers: sugar will be hot! Allow to cool and continue to do it’s clingy thingy for about an hour… Some people don’t like to wait- and that’s ok too! Next up: the dressing. I finally found the perfect combo! honey, olive oil, lemon, garlic, salt and pepper and a sprinkle of gorgonzola! yum! I love parmesan cheese in my dressings, so I thought- why not compliment the cheese in the salad and add it to the dressing as well. I love the fact that by day 2, the gorgonzola is completely infused in the dressing and it’s liquid heaven! Next, slice your pears- I know everyone has a different slice preference when it comes to salad. So do what you and your knife please! Prepare your greens. This salad is best with straight up arugula, but. since I was buying lettuce for multiple meals, I used mixed greens and was very happy with the results! Can I tell you how much Glitter Girl loves this salad? I was shocked! She had two servings for dinner and then had another helping for lunch the next day! She has excellent and expensive taste!! She had the fantastic idea to add dried cranberries to her salad! Tomorrow she has decided to try trading fresh mango for pear- I love her creativity! We served this salad with pepperoni foccacia- which was also very good. The kids helped me put this recipe together- very easy and perfect for a weeknight meal. Prepared biscuits acts as the Foccacia. Fresh tomato sauce, pepperoni, and two cheeses! YUM!! No matter the season, this salad is welcome in my home!

Layer ingredients in a salad bowl starting with lettuce, then gorgonzola, and pears. Top with candied walnuts and vinaigrette!

For the Candied Walnuts

Melt butter in a saucepan, add brown sugar, maple syrup, cinnamon, and salt. Heat on medium- high heat until mixture is bubbly and starting to thicken. Add walnuts. Stir into sugar mixture until the nuts are thoroughly covered and the mixture starts to cling to the walnuts. Take pan off the heat. Spread the candied walnuts onto parchment paper and allow the mixture to set up. (this takes about an hour.)

For the Honey Lemon Vinaigrette

Add all ingredients together in a jar and shake!! Adjust seasoning to taste!

Notes

I usually make this salad serve to order. You don't want the pears and dressing to make the salad soggy. So the toppings can be to order as well. Make it your own creation!

Anyone remember my very first post? My Perfect Yummy Scones? Well…. I used that recipe as my base for these flavorful, fresh peach scones after my trip to the orchard! (see my Peach Palooza post) These scones won’t disappoint! And the sweet peaches were just the right hint of sweetness! I added my cubed peaches right to the scones, but if you feel like your peaches need a little added sweetness, you can add some cinnamon and sugar. Make sure to add your cinnamon and sugar mixture right before you add the peaches to the scones. When you add sugar to peaches, they like to make juice. Juice is usually good, but not in your scone dough! Enjoy!

Mix together dry ingredients, add butter, mix with a food processor or pastry blender until mixture resembles cornmeal. Add egg and cream. Stir until just combined. Roll onto floured board. Form into a disk. ( I always cut the mixture in half at this point to make small scones) Once you have a disc, place peaches in center of disc and fold over. Form dough into disc again and cut with a sharp knife into 8 equal pieces. Repeat with your other disc. Bake at 425 for 14 minutes or until cooked through. (if your peaches are very ripe and juicy it may take the peaches longer to bake) Enjoy!

Notes

*If you decide to add cinnamon and sugar to your peaches, make sure you do it right before you add the peaches to your scones.

I’ve always been a huge fan of Cracker Barrels spice apples. I decided to make some at home and was pleasantly surprised with how so very easy they are! We eat them with and on everything! They are the perfect compliment to pork chops and roast for dinners. They pair well with yogurt for breakfast and they are heavenly warmed and spooned over ice cream. My apples are different from Cracker Barrel in two ways: I peel my apples before cooking and I don’t pan fry them in butter. These are, however, equally as good!

I’m not picky about the type of apple I use. They all seem to work well for this recipe!

I peel, core, and slice my apples. You could definitely leave the skin on and they would still be yummy. I only used six apples this time, but this recipe freezes well, so often I’ll make an entire bag of apples and serve half and freeze the rest for the following week! Yes, we eat them that quickly!

After you have all of your apples sliced. Put them in a medium saucepan, add 1/2 cup brown sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon and about a tablespoon or so of water. At this point you can add whatever spices you’d like or lemon if you want to change it up.

Cook the apples on medium heat until apples are fork tender, but not too mushy. It took about 15-20 minutes to cook these down.

The final result is this gorgeous, sweetly spiced apple side dish. These would be good put directly into pastry to make hand pies or some yummy apple fritters! Enjoy!

I had the amazing opportunity to attend a cooking class in D.C. at Culinaerie! It was amazing…. I learned so much. The first class I took was all about Beef! This dish was one of the first we made. It was so good that I decided to make it at home and of course added a few Sweets and Whimsy twists! Yum! I can’t wait to be apart of more classes! I’m trying to work out some pastry classes soon! First, I wanted to marinate my beef. Marinating beef that is generally tough such as the top round…. you break down some of those tough fibers and it helps make the meat tender. You don’t need to marinate this more more than 20 minutes or so. My beef marinade consists of oyster sauce, beef stock, sugar, and pepper. Oyster sauce is a type of Korean BBQ sauce. Very thick and Very yummy. Go ahead and put your thinly sliced steak in the marinade and set aside for 5-15 minutes. I went ahead and marinated for the entire 15- and it may have been more like 20! While your steak is marinating, go ahead and prepare your veggies. I went grocery shopping on an “off” day in the produce department. They didn’t have lemongrass stalks, they had only very small red peppers and only baby carrots. The hot pepper selection was out of stock all together…. so i used a Serrano- mild and nice color contrast! The recipe still turned out really nice using these changes. Very kid friendly! I looked for lemongrass at several stores and settled for lemongrass paste. I was not at all disappointed. The paste is full of flavor and very easy to work with. First, I sauteed the garlic, lemongrass, and serrano pepper in hot canola oil. Sautee until aromatic, but not dark and crispy. taek out and set aside Add marinated beef along with any marinade that is left over, cook for a few minutes, but not all the way through. make sure your pan needs to be hot! Take meat out and add veggies, cook until veggies are slightly softened but still have a crunch. Add back in meat and garlic mixture. Heat to combine. Prepare the glass noodles, a.k.a cellophane noodles, a.k.a bean threads according to package instructions. these are so unique and are a nice combination to the beef and veggies. The kids are in love with these noodles! Serve your stir-fry creation over glass noodles. Monkey man dove right in with his kid- friendly chop sticks! If you are looking for something new to serve your family, Stir-fry is a great choice! Can’t wait for you to try this! And.. can’t wait to share more cooking school experiences with you!

My favorite Thanksgiving pie is PECAN! One year I decided to try Martha Stewart’s recipe and add chocolate! Oh my…. I haven’t been able to go back! This pie is rich and decadent and you will love it! Mr. Sweets and Whimsy requested this amazing pie for Father’s Day and it didn’t last very long.

Place uncooked pie dough in deep dish pie dish.

Next comes the good part! Chocolate! You can use any chocolate for this. This time I decided to use bittersweet! Dark chocolate is very nice as well. Martha’s recipe calls for semisweet.

Chop up the chocolate! You will use the entire bar of chocolate (4oz) OR if you are me… one “tiny” section goes to the cook and the rest is for the pie!

Place the chocolate into a double boiler and gently heat until it is melted.

Combine corn syrup

eggs

sugar

vanilla extract and salt. Add melted chocolate slowly.

Mix all of the ingredients and pour into the pie crust being careful to not over mix filling mixture.

Cover top of filling with pecans.

Bake at 350 degrees for 50 to 60 minutes or until filling is set.

Let pie cool 4 hours to overnight. I can’t wait to try this recipe in bar form or mini tarts! mmmm! pecans and chocolate- another match made in heaven!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, with rack in lowest position. In a heatproof bowl set over (not in) a saucepan of simmering water, melt chocolate, stirring occasionally, until smooth, 2 to 3 minutes (or melt chocolate in microwave). Set aside.

STEP 2

In a medium bowl, stir together (do not whisk) eggs, corn syrup, sugar, vanilla, and salt. Stirring constantly, gradually add melted chocolate. Pour filling into prepared crust; place pie plate on a rimmed baking sheet. Arrange pecans in one even layer over filling.

STEP 3

Bake just until set (filling should jiggle slightly when pie plate is tapped), 50 to 60 minutes, rotating halfway through. Let cool completely on a wire rack, at least 4 hours (or up to overnight) before serving.

I remember my first gourmet chocolate covered strawberry. It was unforgettable! Another two ingredients that were meant for each other! We have a small strawberry patch on our deck and every year we plant more and more because we just can’t get enough! I decided to celebrate the beautiful relationship of chocolate and strawberries and make our favorite summer dessert! Strawberry Shortcake made extra special with a chocolate shortcake! Mmmm…..

This dessert proves that you eat with your eyes first! One of the reasons I love shortcake is because it is so beautiful! I love the colors! The red of ripe sweet strawberries and the white cream top it with some dark chocolate and its a masterpiece!! Strawberry shortcake is a must when the strawberries are ripest! Perfect summer dessert.

Prepare your strawberries to macerate. Wash, dry, hull, and slice 2 lbs of strawberries. Sprinkle with sugar and set aside to allow strawberries to make it’s own beautiful sauce!

Prepare the chocolate shortcake…. a little secret- this is my scone recipe! Remember my classic scone recipe? Take a look HERE! I tried several chocolate shortcake recipes and wasn’t happy with the texture. I decided to rewrite my scone recipe and add chocolate. The result is perfection! You are going to LOVE these!

Combine the dry ingredients…… add butter. Mix dough with eggs and cream. Mix lightly with spatula. Dump dough onto lightly floured board. Knead dough and form into a disk. Add chocolate chips. Divide in half and form into a disk again.

Cut dough into 8 slices. Move to baking sheet and brush with cream. Bake at 400 degrees for 12-14 minutes.

Beautiful chocolate scone!

Split shortcake in half.

The strawberries are ready! See the beautiful sauce!

Fresh whipped cream….

To build this dessert, take a serrated knife and slice the shortcake in half horizontally. Place one half of the shortcake on the plate. Top with cream, then strawberries, then Repeat! To finish the plate, drizzle top with strawberry sauce and melted chocolate.

My Dad loves ALL THINGS lemon. For Fathers Day, I made him this lemon cake. So bright and fresh!! I would love to have a grove of lemon trees someday!This is a gloriously moist cake with a sweet, tart lemonade glaze! If you like lemon, you will love this!

Our cast of characters for this yummy cake starts with: butter and sugar…

4 eggs,

and of course, lots of lemon….

the combination of lemon juice and lemon zest puts the zingy lemon flavor over the top! I zested 5 lemons to equal 1/4 cup of lemon zest. Depending on the size of the lemons you purchase, you may need more or less.

While bread is cooling. prepare your lemonade glaze. Combine 1/2 cup of sugar with 1/2 cup of lemon juice in a small saucepan. Cook on low heat until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is thick and bubbly.

Drizzle lemonade glaze over bread!

Package up and give to Dad for Fathers Day or your favorite lemon lover!

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour 2 (8 1/2 by 4 1/4 by 2 1/2-inch) loaf pans. You may also line the bottom with parchment paper, if desired.

Cream the butter and 2 cups granulated sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. With the mixer on medium speed, add the eggs, 1 at a time, and the lemon zest.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. In another bowl, combine 1/4 cup lemon juice, the buttermilk, and vanilla. Add the flour and buttermilk mixtures alternately to the batter, beginning and ending with the flour. Divide the batter evenly between the pans, smooth the tops, and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until a cake tester comes out clean.

Combine 1/2 cup granulated sugar with 1/2 cup lemon juice in a small saucepan and cook over low heat until the sugar dissolves. When the cakes are done, allow to cool for 10 minutes. Remove the cakes from the pans and set them on a rack set over a tray or sheet pan; spoon the lemonade glaze over them. Allow the cakes to cool completely.

One of my very favorite things to do this time of year is berry picking! Strawberries, Blackberries, Raspberries, and of course Blueberries! Blueberry picking is fun, but it is hard work! In order to have enough for a recipe, you need to do A LOT of berry picking! This recipe calls for 2 cups of blueberries… and this time, we went to the store….. This recipe is sooo very easy and yummy!

First, I started with my dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt.

Then add in your wet ingredients. melted butter, milk and vanilla…

Wash and dry your fresh berries. I love that blueberry color!!

Mix the wet and dry ingredients, place batter into an 8×8 dish that has been prepared with cooking spray or butter.

Sprinkle the batter evenly with blueberries.

I love that we aren’t mixing the berries in to this batter. It assures that the blueberries won’t be get broken down too much and they won’t sink to the bottom.

Sprinkle the top of the berries with sugar. Bake at 350 degrees for 25- 30 minutes or until knife comes out clean.

Serve with fresh sweetened cream as I did or ice cream. This cake is also really good all by itself!

This is a really nice dessert to enjoy in the summer! Can’t wait to do some more picking!! Enjoy!